James Parsons finds a shady spot and a drink but is too spent to even open the bottle top soon after crossing the finish line at Sileni Estates Winery, Hastings. Photo / Paul Taylor
James Parsons finds a shady spot and a drink but is too spent to even open the bottle top soon after crossing the finish line at Sileni Estates Winery, Hastings. Photo / Paul Taylor
In a jocular vein, James Parsons taunted his rivals pre-race before picking them out and running them down one by one on the big day.
"It's part of my tactics because if you don't go in cocky then you don't have anything to back it up with," said Parsons only minutes after crossing the line of the Air New Zealand Hawke's Bay International Marathon on Saturday.
"I knew there were a lot of people down here to support me so if I gave up it would have been hard on them as well," said the 28-year-old general practitioner who clocked 2h 35m 10s to become the inaugural male champion over the 42.2km flat-but-picturesque course.
He hugged his coach, Craig Kirkwood, of Tauranga, before crossing to the other side of the barrier to do the same with his mother, Gaylene Leyden, and his partner, Victoria Lyon.
But jokes aside, it was no laughing matter for him a fortnight ago when a bung knee left him questioning his self-belief.
"Two weeks ago I didn't even know that I could run so just last week I had to sort myself out to feel confident I could do it no matter how much I hurt.
"You know I thought I was going to give up back there because I just wanted to walk," he said, a humble bandage around the left knee the only indication that he had injected pain killers to the offending joint.
The torture kicked in at the 10km mark although his physiotherapist, Tony Snell, of Proactive, had earlier reassured him at a few stations.
"I said I'm so sore and he just said, 'It's all right so keep running'," Parsons said.
"Hopefully I haven't done too much damage," he said.
Chris Sanson, of Palmerston North, finished second on 2:37:11 and Hamish Hammond, of Greytown, was third (2:48:58).
Jianyong Fang, of Singapore, was fourth and the first international male home, clocking 2:55:39 in a field of 412 male finishers.
Parsons revealed the tactic was to let runner-up Sanson do all the work because he was mindful the 29-year-old would have been battling fatigue from the Rotorua Marathon a fortnight ago.
"It got a little hard for just 1k because I knew it would have demoralised him enough to disappear and he did."
His heart went out to fellow Napier Harriers Club mate Kristian Day because he was in the top mix with 35km to go.
"He must have blown up, poor guy, because Kristian was all by himself.
"I tried to get him to catch up but I don't think he had it because it gets tough when you're out there by yourself," he said before the trademark grin kicked in as he jovially requested not to convey his sympathy for his neighbour and arch rival who did not finish.
Parsons' idea of perfect running conditions is 6C and dead calm.
"Oh my god, this is far out. Hot, windy and dry and I've been guzzling water at every station but I'm still dehydrated so I'm a little worried about my kidneys now."
That night, though, he intended "to hit the wine".
James Parsons hugs partner Victoria Lyon and mother Gaylene Leyden (obscured). Photo / Paul Taylor
"How could you not with that big group dinner we have tonight before I hit the bed by seven," he said, lauding Kirkwood, Snell and his family for their support.
"And Victoria for putting up with me because I've been a really moody bastard," Parsons said, revealing he would definitely defend his crown next year.
A philosophical Sanson reconciled his consecutive second placing with his lack of preparation and to "some days you can and other days you can't".
"You know it's all right. I was asking a pretty big challenge today to run back up so I had nothing to lose and I went out real hard," said the swim/lifeguard coach who only last week quit as a semi-professional triathlete to focus on a running career.
"I am pretty happy with second because I was really lucky to hold on because I hit the wall big time with 10k to go so I was creeping home."
Sanson felt Parsons didn't beat him up but "I just went backwards".
"I thought he would have run a little ahead of me but I managed to hang in there," he said, opting not to play the weather card.
"Well done to James. I stick it to him hard at the start and kept going and I paid for it at the end but, hey, it was all about racing and putting it on the line.
"If you want to win you've got to be prepared to lose," Sanson said.
The other top gun from the CK (Craig Kirkwood) stables, Kyle Macdonald, of Tauranga, has an "STR" next to his name in the results on the official website but no one could verify last night what the acronym stood for.
In the men's half marathon, Whakatane teenager Hayden Wilde was first (1:11:18) ahead of Parsons' coach, Craig Kirkwood (1:13:54), of Tauranga, while Christchurch runner Malcolm Hodge was third (1:16:54).
In the female equivalent, Olivia Ritchie, of Hamilton, was champion after coming in a time of 1h 26m flat.
Aucklander Posey Wall was second on 1:27:11 and, organisers suspected, Grace Ritchie, the winner's teenage sister from Hamilton, was third with a time of 1:27:17.
The Ritchies hail from a pedigree background, following in the footsteps of their mother, Marguerite Ritchie (nee Buist), who has reportedly represented New Zealand in Olympics.
The 53-year-old was under the 2:30 mark when running in the Boston and Nagoya marathons in 1989.
Her daughters also run in the middle-distance track events as members of the Hamilton City Running Hawks Club.
